While collaborating with autonomous vehicle data collection units and service robot manufacturers to meet their requirements, we have received various requests over the years. Among them, today I would like to share details regarding RGB-IR camera sensors.
What is an RGB-IR Camera?
An RGB-IR camera is a camera that utilizes an IR (Infrared) channel in addition to the standard RGB (Red, Green, Blue) channels. Because these cameras can detect infrared wavelengths along with visible light, they are useful in a wide variety of applications.
Key Features
Multi-Spectrum Sensing: Capable of collecting more information by detecting the IR channel alongside RGB channels.
Improved Image Quality: Delivers better image quality in low-light environments by utilizing IR data.
Night Vision Capabilities: IR detection allows for clear capture of subjects even in dark environments.
Accurate Color Reproduction: Combining RGB and IR data enables more precise color reproduction and image processing.
Applications
Security & Surveillance: High performance both day and night; enables night surveillance via IR detection.
Medical Imaging: Infrared imaging can detect tissue depth and temperature changes, useful for various medical diagnoses.
Industrial Inspection: Used in factory automation and quality control to detect product defects.
Agriculture: Used to detect and manage crop health. IR data is particularly useful for identifying plant stress levels.
Automotive: Used for object detection and distance measurement in autonomous vehicles.
RGB-IR cameras enable reliable data collection across various environments, providing innovative solutions in diverse fields.
Usage of Traditional RGB-IR Cameras
In traditional RGB-IR cameras, to capture both RGB and IR data through a single camera interface, pixels or frames were transmitted alternately (interleaved). Consequently, the receiving side was required to perform additional processing to separate the data.
These tasks require significant complexity and heavy CPU usage, often utilizing libraries like OpenCV. Recently, methods using GPUs for parallel processing to optimize this on various platforms have also been introduced.
Advantages of the Telelian RGB-IR Camera
The most significant advantage of our newly developed camera is its ease of application. By utilizing the Virtual Channels feature of the NVIDIA Jetson platform, the system treats the input as if it were handling separate cameras. This means you can use two distinct camera devices through a single GMSL interface.
Example:
IR Camera = /dev/video0
RGB Camera = /dev/video1
[IR Mode ]
[RGB Mode]
Furthermore, the IR camera channel supports simple dynamic switching between Night Mode and Full IR Mode, allowing changes based on the application's needs.
Finally, just like other Telelian GMSL cameras, this model supports external sync mode, making it easy to synchronize with other sensors. This stands as a key advantage of our newly developed RGB-IR camera.
[RGB-IR Module]
[AVS200 with RGB-IR GMSL interface ]
[Boards]
[Power & Signal Cable]
While collaborating with autonomous vehicle data collection units and service robot manufacturers to meet their requirements, we have received various requests over the years. Among them, today I would like to share details regarding RGB-IR camera sensors.
What is an RGB-IR Camera?
An RGB-IR camera is a camera that utilizes an IR (Infrared) channel in addition to the standard RGB (Red, Green, Blue) channels. Because these cameras can detect infrared wavelengths along with visible light, they are useful in a wide variety of applications.
Key Features
Multi-Spectrum Sensing: Capable of collecting more information by detecting the IR channel alongside RGB channels.
Improved Image Quality: Delivers better image quality in low-light environments by utilizing IR data.
Night Vision Capabilities: IR detection allows for clear capture of subjects even in dark environments.
Accurate Color Reproduction: Combining RGB and IR data enables more precise color reproduction and image processing.
Applications
Security & Surveillance: High performance both day and night; enables night surveillance via IR detection.
Medical Imaging: Infrared imaging can detect tissue depth and temperature changes, useful for various medical diagnoses.
Industrial Inspection: Used in factory automation and quality control to detect product defects.
Agriculture: Used to detect and manage crop health. IR data is particularly useful for identifying plant stress levels.
Automotive: Used for object detection and distance measurement in autonomous vehicles.
RGB-IR cameras enable reliable data collection across various environments, providing innovative solutions in diverse fields.
Usage of Traditional RGB-IR Cameras
In traditional RGB-IR cameras, to capture both RGB and IR data through a single camera interface, pixels or frames were transmitted alternately (interleaved). Consequently, the receiving side was required to perform additional processing to separate the data.
These tasks require significant complexity and heavy CPU usage, often utilizing libraries like OpenCV. Recently, methods using GPUs for parallel processing to optimize this on various platforms have also been introduced.
Advantages of the Telelian RGB-IR Camera
The most significant advantage of our newly developed camera is its ease of application. By utilizing the Virtual Channels feature of the NVIDIA Jetson platform, the system treats the input as if it were handling separate cameras. This means you can use two distinct camera devices through a single GMSL interface.
Example:
IR Camera = /dev/video0
RGB Camera = /dev/video1
[IR Mode ]
[RGB Mode]
Furthermore, the IR camera channel supports simple dynamic switching between Night Mode and Full IR Mode, allowing changes based on the application's needs.
Night Mode: Applies the brightness characteristics of RGB to the IR mode.
Pro: Improved night visibility.
Con: Characteristics may vary due to visible light interference.
Full IR: A mode where brightness does not change even in sunlight.
Pro: Sensing is based solely on IR.
Con: Due to relatively lower light quantity, night visibility may be reduced (without active IR illumination).
Finally, just like other Telelian GMSL cameras, this model supports external sync mode, making it easy to synchronize with other sensors. This stands as a key advantage of our newly developed RGB-IR camera.
[RGB-IR Module]
[AVS200 with RGB-IR GMSL interface ]
[Boards]
[Power & Signal Cable]